E 

4-13 

77 

tojz 



JACK STERRY, 
THE JESSIE SCOUT 



AN INCIDKNT OF THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS, ON WHICH 

TURNED THE COURSE OF THE CAMPAIGN AND THE 

FATE OF THE SOUTHERN ARMY 



By 

JOHN CUSSONS, Forest Lodge, Glen Allen, Virginia, 
Confederate Scout, 

Author of "A (JIance at ('urrent History," 

"The Pasissxe of Thoroughfare Gap," 

"Some Modern Pillars of State," 

" Principles of Cryptography," 

" Assimilating the Indian," 

"Jack Sterry," Etc. 



i 




RICHMOND VA. : 

WmrriT & Shepperson, Printers 

1908 




Class £^T^ 



i>ui:si:.\Ti:i) m 



An Unrecokdhij Eimsodk (jf the A.mkrican War 



Jack Stern', the Jessie Scout 



AN INCIDKNT OF SICCOND MANASSAS, OX WlllC II 
lURNEI) rilE COURSE OF THE CAMPAICJN 
AND rill. TAIE OF THE SOUTHERN AKMV 



JOHN CUSSONS 

FoRRST Loi)(;e, CJlkn Ai.i.kn, \'ir(;ima 

CONFHDEKATK ScolIT. 
PaM' GkANH COMMANIIKR OK THE CoNFEDEKATE VETERANS OF ViRGIMA, 

Ex-Chairman of History Committee, Author of "A Glance 

AT Currbnt History," "On Mihikrn Pillars of State," 

"A Benevolent Assimilation of ihb Indian," 

"The Passage of Thoroughfare Gap," 

"The Princii'Lhs and Liiekaturb 

of Cryi'tograi'hy," " Jack 

Stekrv," Etc. 




RUilMDNi), VA. : 

Whittei c^- Shepperson, Printers 

190S 






Gift 
Author 

22 Ja m 



Jack Sterry, the Jessie Scout 

THIS WAY, (k-neral Hood." said the guide, gracefully 
saluting and pointing northward, as the head of Long- 
street's colunni swung toward the east. The guide, 
well niouiUed and wearing the uniform of a Confederate 
cavalryman, sat at the forks of the road near the little village 
of W'h'te Plains, in l'"au(|uier County. X'irginia. 

The road which Ceneral Hood was taking leads to Thor- 
oughfare Gap in Bull Run Alountain, and is the only practic- 
able approach to the field of Manassas where Stonewall Jackson 
was then struggling with the anu\- of General Pope. 

Hood halted his colunm and closely questioned the guide, 
"feeling certain that he was in error. And yet it would seem 
that the guide nuist be right. He was intelligent, confident, 
definite, certain of his instructions, and prompt and clear in 
his rei)lies. J le was a handsome young fellow with bold, 
frank eyes and a pleasant voice, and the precision of his state- 
ments gave weight to his words. 

The situation was critical ; n-j exigency of war could be 
more so. It was not merely the issue of a battle, but the fate 
of a campaign that hung in the Ixilance ! 

Lee had taken the perilous step of dividing his army in 
the presence of an active adversarx-. He had sent Stonewall 
Jackson on a detour of some sixt\- miles to strike the rear and 
destrov the supplies of the Federal army at Manassas, and to 
cut its line of comnumication witli Washington. 

In an cnter])rise of this character the first step is not diffi- 
cult. The vital problem is to bring the divided forces together 

[ 3 ] 



ag-ain. Lee's army must be promptly reunited, or its be- 
leagured wing must perish ! 

It was lo o'clock in the forenoon of August 28, 1862. 

The two wings of the Confederate army were only fifteen 
miles apart, but the Bull Run Mountain range lay between 
them, and the Federals under Pope were probably close 
enough to seize the passes. 

Jackson's situation seemed desperate. He had been march- 
ing or fighting day and night ever since he left the Rappa- 
hamiock, and many of his troops were dropping in their 
tracks for want of sleep. 

At sunset on the preceding day (that is on August 27), 
Pope's camps extended from Haymarket and Gainesville to 
Bristow Station, but Jackson's daring exploit at Manassas had 
drawn the Imlk of the Federals toward that point, and in their 
efi^orts to surround him they were covering the mountain passes 
and thus barring him from a junction with Longstreet. 

In this dangerous situation Stonewall Jackson took a step 
which seemingly violates every principle of military science. 
Beset as he was by overwhelming numbers he yet ventured to 
subdivide his little wing of the already divided army. 

General A. P. Hill's Division was at Blackburn's Ford, on 
Bull Run, where it had snatched a few hours of sorely-needed 
sleep. At nightfall Stonewall Jackson dispatched that divi- 
sion on the open road to Centerville. thus seeming to threaten 
Washington. But with the remainder of his command he 
quietly stole ofif to the broken country lying west of Bull Run 
and north of the Warrenton Turnpike, and there he passed the 
night, curtained by the cavalry of Fitzhugh Lee. 

This daring threat on Washington ])roduced startling ef- 
fects, and for some hours the whole situation was changed. 
General Pope Ijclievcd Hill's Division to l)c the whole of Jack- 

[ 4 ] 



son's coniniancl, and he therefore rushed everything to the de- 
fence of his capital. 

His dream of crushing Jackson had departed, and for a 
period there remained to him nothing but the hope of saving 
W'asliington from capture and his own army from annihilation. 

Night came. There was no moon, and a slight haze some- 
what dimmed the stars. Hill's Confederates, in lig'ht march- 
ing order, encountered no obstacle ; but the mammoth army of 
Pope, with its heavy batteries and ponderous pontoons, en- 
cumbered the narrow foads ; Avhile the troops — ^heir eyes 
dazed by their campfires — groped in the darkened woods and 
floundered in the ditches and blocked each other's way. It 
was a nightmare — frantic in effort, yet unavailing in results. 

But with the coming of daylight order began to emerge, 
and the Federal commander was again in the saddle — alert, 
hopeful, and prodigal in the issuance of conflicting commands. 

Jackson's ruse for the moment had saved him ! It had 
given two-thirds of his army nearly five hours' sleep, and by 
drawing Pope from the mountain passes had opened the way 
for Longstreet's approach. General Hill, having reached Cen- 
trevillc. suddenly doubled, and with swift secrecy by a forced 
night march swung back southward and reunited with Jack- 
son near Sudley Ford. 

Jackson then took up a strong position, with his right near 
Groveton, on the Warrenton Turnpike, and thence gazed long- 
ingly toward Thoroughfare Gap, expecting Longstreet to ap- 
pear. 



Such was the situation when the guide's orders— back yon- 
der at White Plains— would not only have taken Longstreet's 
corps away from the battlefield, but would have opened to the 
Federal army a clear course to Richmond. 

[ 5 ] 



The time was lo a. m., August 28, 1862. 

" Did General Jackson himself give you these instructions? " 
asked General Hood. 

" Yes, General." 

" When ? " 

" About four hours ago. I left soon after sunrise." 

" What route did you come ? " 

" North of the mountain, General, by way of Gum Springs ; 
there is no other road." 

" Do you know where Stuart is ? " 

" I saw most of his command this morning. He is pushing 
with his main body for Sudley, to cover Jackson's rear. One 
brigade has gone north to guard the trains on the Aldie road." 

" Trains on the Aldie road ! " exclaimed Hood ; " what trains 
are you talking about ? " 

" Stonewall Jackson's trains. General. He is pushing them 
toward Aldie, where I supposed you would join him." 

" I have heard nothing of all this ! " said the General. 

" Then I'll tell you what it is, General Hood ; those devilish 
Jessie Scouts are at it again ! — cutting off Stuart's couriers ! 
Jackson has heard nothing from Longstreet since yesterday 
morning, and he's afraid you'll follow the old order and try to 
join him by Thoroughfare Gap." 

"Where is Jackson?" asked General Hood. 

" I left him a little south of Sudley Springs, on the high 
ground commanding the turnpike." 

" What is he doing? " 

" Shortening his lines, General. You see Porter turned our 
right at Groveton last night, and McDowell took Thorough- 
fare Gap ; and Ricketts was sent to support Buford's cavalry, 
who had seized the pass at Hopewell. At least that's what 
Stuart's scouts told me." 

[ 6 ] 



" You say Jackson's left is at Suclley Springs ? " 
" No, General Hood. I intended to say that his left was near 
Sudley Springs — about a half a mile south. Kearney and Hook- 
er attacked there in column last night, doubling us up, and the 
enemy now holds both the road and the fords." 

" But that would make Jackson's position untenable." 
"Yes, General; that's the reason he's falling back. They 
say McClellan has abandoned the James and now covers Wash- 
ington, and that Burnside has arrived from the coast. Within 
twenty-four hours — the way they figure it — Pope will have 
over a hundred thousand men. When I left there at sunrise, 
Jed Hotchkiss had all the pioneers out. He was cutting roads 
and clearing fords and bridging Catharpin Run, for that's the 
only way out now." 

" How did you learn all these things? " asked General Hood; 
and there was a note of severity in his voice. 

" Absorbed them from the atmosphere, I suppose," answered 
the guide rather languidly. Then, correcting himself with 
swift utterance, he continued: "I beg pardon. General Hood; 
no offense. I meant to say that a courier absorbs details of 
this sort from the atmosphere of headquarters — the atmosphere 
of conjecture and apprehension — the atmosphere so rife with 
the counsel of chaplains and the strategy of medical men, and 
the theories of quartermaster's clerks. Why, General, the very 
air is vocal with the enemy's doings ! What with captured dis- 
patches, and intercepted battle orders, and the reports of scouts 
and spies, we have literally no rest day or night. Then there 
are the revelations of prisoners, and the stories of deserters, and 
the never-ending chatter of junior staff officers. I tell you. 
General Hood, we couriers hear enough in a day to fill a book. 
And on forbidden subjects, you know, according to the pro- 
verb. 'Jack knows more than his master ! ' " 

[ 7 ] 



"Who and what are you?" demanded General Hood, who 
was perplexed and anxious, yet scarcely suspicious of treach- 
ery — ^the guide was so bland and free and unconstrained. 

" I am Frank Lamar, of Athens, Georgia, enrolled with the 
cavalry of Hampton's Legion, but now detailed on courier ser- 
vice at the headquarters of Stonewall Jackson." 

" Where's your saber ? " 

" I captured a handsome pistol from a Yankee officer at Port 
Republic, and have discarded my saber." 

" Let me see your pistol." 

It was a very fine silver-mounted Colt's revolver; one cham- 
ber was empty. 

" When did you fire that shot ? " 

"Yesterday morning, General Hood, I shot a turkey buz- 
zard sitting on the fence." 

General Hood banded the pistol to Captain Cussons, com- 
mander of scouts. Cussons scrutinized the pistol, and the 
guide scrutinized Captain Cussons. As the captain drew Gen- 
eral Hood's attention to the fact that the powder was still 
moist, showing that the pistol had been recently fired, the 
guide interposed, saying that he had reloaded after yesterday's 
practice, and had fired the shot in question at another buzzard 
just before the column came in sight, but that he didn't sup- 
pose General Hood would be interested in such a matter. 

The guide was mistaken. General Hood was decidedly in- 
terested in the matter ! Guides do not practice marksmanship 
when on duty between the lines. 

It so happened that the Hampton Legion had been recently 
assigned to Hood, and was then marching with his division. 
A message was sent down the line requesting Colonel Gary, 
who was commanding the legion, to report at the head of the 
column. 

[ 8 ] 



And then the guide suddenly remembered that he had never 
really belonged to Hampton's Legion ; that the story was a lit- 
tle romance of his, and had grown out of a love affair. In the 
Shenandoah Valley, he explained, there was a beautiful maiden 
who had caught his fancy, but the girl was romantic and did 
not care for plodding foot-soldiers. All her dreams were of 
knights and heroes and cavaliers on prancing steeds, so he had 
deserted from the infantry and captured a horse, and his real 
name was Harry Brooks, and he believed that in the stress of 
battle or campaign he could throw himself in the way of some 
enterprising commander and render such gallant service as 
would win approval; and when by daring deeds he had dis- 
tinguished himself, as only a trooper can, he would confess his 
fault and leave the rest to fortune. 

" Search that man! " exclaimed General Hood, impatiently; 
for the General was baffled and still uncertain. All his life 
had been passed in active service, yet this was a new experience 
to him. 

The search revealed strange things. In the guide's haver- 
sack were little packages of prepared coffee and blocks of con- 
densed soup and good store of hardtack, which facts the guide 
pleasantly dismissed with the remark that " It's a poor sort of 
Reb that can't forage on the enemy." 

The next discovery had a deeper meaning. In the lining of 
his vest were found the insignia of a Confederate captain — the 
three gold bars being secured to a base which had a thin strip 
of flexible steel running lengthwise through it and slightly 
projecting at the ends. Further search revealed minute open- 
ings in the collar of his jacket, and into those openings the 
device was readily slipped and firmly held. 

" What is the meaning of that ? " asked General Hood, 
sternly. 



There was an air of boyish diffidence and a touch of re- 
proach in the young man's reply. Its demure humor was half 
playful, yet modest and natural, and its effect on the spectators 
was mainly ingratiating. 

" Really, General Hood," he said, " you ask me such em- 
barrassing questions. But I will tell you. It was just this 
way. Our girls, God bless them, are as devoted and patriotic 
as can be, but you couldn't imagine the difference they make 
between a commissioned officer and a private soldier. Li short. 
I soon saw it was all up with me unless I could get promotion. 
Well, what was I to do? The War Department seemed blind, 
stone blind, to my merits, and as for my family influence it 
was altogether unavailing. So there I was, abandoned — heart- 
lessly abandoned — and all for want of a little gold lace! Well, 
as my country would not promote me. I determined to promote 
myself. And I tell you the thought was an inspiration ! Yes, 
indeed; those little golden bars had magic in them. In a word, 
or rather in three words, T came, saw, and overcame,' and the 
marriage takes place the moment this ' cruel war is over.' I'm 
sorry you're not attending to me, General, for Tm sure that if 
you would but deign to grace that occasion with your distin- 
guished presence our cup of happiness would, indeed, be full." 

General Hood missed all this. He was standing apart, talk- 
ing earnestly with two of his brigade commanders. Colonel 
Wofford and General J. B. Robertson. 

General Hood felt the responsibility of his position — felt it 
keenly, painfully. 

Communicative as the guide was, the General could not read 
him. He might be an honest youth whose callow loquacity 
sprung from no worse a source than that of inexperience and 
undisciplined zeal, or he might be one of the most daring and 
dangerous spies that ever hid supernal subtilty beneath the 
mask of guilelessness. 

[ 10 ] 



True or false, his message bore on momentous issues, and it 
is not too much to say that an epoch in our history might turn 
on his Hghtest word — on the misinterpretation of a glance 
from his beaming black eyes — on the mere compression for a 
moment of his smiling boyish lips. 

It was observed that he had related nothing but what might 
naturally have occurred under ordinary chances of battle ; 
nothing indeed but what we had seriously apprehended ; and 
above all, his statements were of a character which could not 
have been pre-arranged, for they were direct replies to our 
own questions. 

Meanwhile the precious moments were slipping by ! — fateful 
moments! — moments on which hung the tide of war; the for- 
tunes of a great campaign ; the doom perhaps of a new-born 
nation ! 

And there at the parting of the ways sat our boyish guide — 
frank, commimicative, well-informed — leaning on the pommel 
of his saddle with the negligent grace of youth and replying 
with perfect good humor to all our questioning. 

We had every reason to believe that Stonewall Jackson at 
that moment was beset by overwhelming numbers, and nothing 
seemed to us more likely than that the enemy would attempt 
to cut ofif our approach by the seizure of Thoroughfare Gap. 

If Jackson's left flank was really at Sudley Springs, and his 
right at Grovcton, his right would be " in the air," and a move- 
ment to turn it would virtually support an occupancy of the 
mountain passes. This would naturally drive Jackson north- 
ward, t()ward Aldie. as our guide had stated. 

The whole situation was perilous in the extreme, and our 
doubts were agonizing. 

If the Federals really occupied the passes of Hopewell and 
Thoroughfare they could easily hold them against our assault, 

[ II ] 



and if Jackson should attempt to join us there, they could de- 
stroy him. 

On the other hand, if Jackson had really retreated toward 
Aldie we must at once change our course and join him by a 
forced march northward, and to do that would be not merely 
to abandon the campaign as planned, but also to relinquish to 
the enemy the short line and the open way to Richmond ! 



From his first moment of misgiving General Hood had taken 
measures to verify or discredit the guide's story. Swift re- 
connaisance was made in each direction, but the roads were 
ambushed by Jessie Scouts and infested with detachments of 
Bulford's cavalry. Priceless moments were thus lost, and 
altbo' we felt that Stonewall must be sore beset, yet we could 
not guess which road would take us to his battle or lead us 
away from it ! 

Meantime diligent questioning went on by staff officers and 
couriers, the benefit of every doubt being freely accorded, for 
many of us believed, almost to the last, that the guide was a 
true man. 

But soon we were confronted by another revelation. Our 
guide's linen bore, in blue marking ink, the oval stamp of the 
Federal supply department. 

" Suppose you tell us about this? " suggested Leigh Terrell, 
of General Law's staff. 

" Well," replied the guide, "that takes me back to the affair 
at Cedar Mountain. The Yankees shot my horse there and 
captured me. Intending to escape, I shammed sick, and they 
sent me to the hospital at Alexandria. Of course, the first 
thing was a warm bath and the next was these clothes, both of 
which, I assure you, were a comfort to me." 

[ 12 1 



"Yes, yes;" said Major Terrell, '"but how did you es- 
cape ? " 

" Well," replied the guide, " there wasn't much discipline 
about the hospital nor in the town, but the camp was awfully 
strict. I hobbled around a bit, leaning on a stick and taking a 
look at things. The night relief, I found, sent in the remoter 
outposts with orders to report at evening roll call. This gave 
them the liberty of the town for an hour or two, and some of 
them generally took a turn at the saloons before going to camp. 

" I had swapped a hospital blanket for a blue overcoat, and 
I ])c)ttered around with the boys and joined in their choruses 
and things. I was supposed to be a Yankee convalescent. 
Their muskets and belts would be carelessly stowed in the cor- 
ners of the barroom, and as a fresh delegation came in — hot 
and thirsty, all calling for drinks at once — I hadn't the least 
difficulty in picking up a musket and sauntering off with it. 
Of course. I waited a moment outside, and listened, so that I 
could make a joke of the matter if anyone had happened to 
notice me. But it was all right. 

" Well, I lay low until ' tattoo,' and then went in the direc- 
tion of the guardhouse. You see there wasn't the ghost of a 
chance for escape unless I could get the countersign, so I con- 
cluded to play sentinel and get it that way — open and above- 
board, you know. Presently I slipped into a dark alley and 
. adjusted my accouterments, and then stalked forth, fully armed, 
and took my post." 

" Prettv cool, eh?" commented Captain Christian. 

"Yes, rather so," said the guide; "but, you see, I had my 
Yankee overcoat on. 

" After a while there was the measured tread of troops, 
marching as if on duty. 

[ 13 1 



Halt ! Who comes there ?' I yelled, bracing myself and 
bringing my musket to the ' ready.' 

Grand rounds ! ' was the impressive reply. 

Advance, grand rounds, and give the countersign ! ' says I. 

" It was drizzling at the time, and a portly officer in gum 
boots and a Macintosh, reached forward until his chin almost 
touched my bayonet, and said, in a stage whisper, ' Lex-ing- 
ton.' 

The countersign is correct ! ' " said I ; and the procession 
moved on. 

" When they were out of sight I moved, too ! — but in the 
other direction, holding my course for King street, and intend- 
ing to take the main southern road." 

"What did you do with your musket?" asked Leigh Ter- 
rell. 

"O, I just rammed it under a culvert, and pursued my peace- 
ful way. Well, it looked like everything challenged me. I 
was halted by camp guards, by street patrols, by pickets, by 
scouting parties, but, I tell you, that magic word ' Lex-ing-ton ' 
carried me through like a charm ! 

" Finally, on passing the last vidette, I was lucky enough to 
pick up a horse, and by dawn I was back with our own folks 
again. But, I tell you, I had a lot more trouble slipping back 
into our lines than I had in getting out of theirs." 



When General Hood first halted his column a number of 
troops had strayed into the fields and woods to pick berries, and 
it was afterwards remembered that the guide's attention seemed 
to follow those soldiers, especially such of them as wandered 
toward a certain thicket near the edge of the forest. 

We were soon to learn the meaning of this. 

[ 14 ] 



For in that thicket a frightful secret was hidden ! — a secret 
which, if discovered, would doom that guide to a shameful 
death — a death of infamy, of nameless horror — his sepulchre 
the gibbet — his unlniried flesh a loathsome meal for those evil 
birds which banquet on the dead. 

Was there some pre-vision of this in that swift glance which 
he cast toward the open country as he half turned in his saddle 
and took a firmer grasp on the reins? 

There were those among us who thought so, afterwards. 
Yet he must have known that escape by flight was impossible. 
In a moment, however, the startled gesture was gone, and 
there was again about him that same air of negligent repose, 
that same tranquility of spirit which was enhanced rather than 
impaired by the amused and half scornful smile with wdiich he 
regarded the scrutiny of those around him. 

While we thus observed him, there was sudden commotion 
among the troops. Soldiers wuth grave faces, and some with 
flashing eyes, were hurrying from the eastward road. They had 
found a dying man — a Confederate dispatch-bearer, who had 
been dragged into the bushes and evidently left for dead. He 
had gasped out a few broken words — his dispatches had been 
taken ; torn from his breast pocket ; he had been " shot by one 
of our own men ! " 

The situation now was plain enough ! That pretended south- 
em guide was in reality a northern spy! He had taken his 
life in his hand and boldly flung it into the scale of war! The 
chances against him were infinite, yet so superb was his cour- 
age, so sedate his daring, that Init for those unconsidered mis- 
haps he would have won his perilous way ! He would have 
blasted at its fruition the matchless strategy of Lee; he would 
smilingly have beckoned that magnificent army to its doom ! 

[ 15 ] 



Never perhaps in all the tide of time did consequences so 
vast pivot upon incidents so trivial ! 

Had General Hood followed routine and turned to the left 
a certain trend of events would have been inevitable. 

Stonewall's beleagured detachment would have perished. 
Longstreet's corps would have lost its base. Richmond would 
have fallen. John Pope would have been the nation's hero. 
The seat of war would have drifted toward the Gulf States, and 
the great tides of American history would have flowed along 
other courses. 

But these things were not to be. 

General Hood drew his brigadiers aside. The guide, or 
■rather' spy^ glanced toward them, but remained unshakeai. 
There was a certain placid fortitude in his manner which 
seemed incompatible with ruthless deeds. There was some- 
thing of devotion in it, and self-sacrifice, relieved, indeed, by 
just a touch of bravado, but without a trace of fear. 

None knew better than he that that group of stern-faced men 
was a drum-head court, and none better knew what the award 
of that court would be. He had played boldly for a mighty 
stake. He had lost, and was ready with the penalty! 

There was a strip of forest where the roads forked, and 
among the trees was a large post oak with spreading branches. 

General Hood pointed to the tree, saying that any of its 
limbs would do. 

A Texas soldier remarked that there was no better scaffold 
than the back of a horse, and the spy, approving the sugges- 
tion, sprang lightly up and stood on the saddle. Half a dozen 
men were soon busy in the tree, fastening a bridle rein at one 
end and adjusting a loop at the other. As they slipped the 
noose over his head the spy raised his hand impressively : 

" Stop! " he exclaimed. " T have three words more for you. 

[ t6 1 



I am neither Frank Lamar, of Georgia, nor Harry Brooks, of 
Virginia. I am Jack Sterry, of the Jessie Scouts. I did not 
kill that rebel, but I was with those who did. His dispatches 
by this time are safe enough ! I should like my comrades to 
know that I palavered with }our army for a good half hour 
while General Pope was battering down your precious old 
Stonewall. Now, men, I am ready! — and in parting, I will 
simply ask you to say. if you should ever speak of this, that 
Jack Sterry, when the rebels got him, died as a Jessie Scout 
should ! " 

He folded his arms, and his horse was led from beneath his 
feet. General Hood turned aside, and, in subdued voice, gave 
the order of march, and the column moved on. 

The writhing figure swung for a little while in the soft morn- 
ing air, and was still, and there had gone forth to the God who 
gave it, as dauntless a spirit as ever throbbed in mortal clay. 

Within two hundred paces lay the yet warm body of the 
Confederate dispatch-bearer. " Aye," you may say, " but that 
is a different matter; he was a rebel." 

I will not answer that. 

The youth lay there, stretched on his native soil; his breast 
clotted with gore, and his big blue eyes staring vacantly into 
the sky. He had been pitilessly slain — slain without warning, 
slain by a pretended friend, slain while doing his part in be- 
half of a cause which, whether good or evil, had at least for 
him the sanction of a father's blessing and the consecration of 
a mother's prayers. 



Lieutenant General William Tecumseh Sherman has done 
much and written much. Many of his deeds and words will 
be remembered when The Commentaries shall have been for- 

\ 1/ ] 



gotten. And yet the better half, the deeper lesson, of his vol- 
uminous memoirs may be epitomized in his own three burning 
and let us hope remorseful words, " War is Hell ! " 



The troops — well rested now — 'struck up a swinging stride 
along the road from which the spy had vainly striven to divert 
them. Thoroughfare Gap was barely seven miles distant, and 
with that gateway in our hands the divided wings of Lee's 
army would soon be reunited, and the grand strategy of the 
campaign would have been achieved. 

But Thoroughfare was not to be had without a struggle. 

Robert E. Lee had supposed himself to be measuring swords 
with John Pope, and he had therefore taken risks which he 
never would have dreamed of if battling with an ordinary ad- 
versary. 

But General Pope had under him a wayward soldier — Irvin 
McDowell by name — and when Pope ordered McDowell to 
rush his troops to Centreville, and get between " the rebels " 
and Washington, McDowell distinctly disobeyed ! 

The trouble with McDowell was that he had discerned the 
real nature of the situation. 

He had commanded on that same field the year before, and 
he knew every stream and ford and road and mountain pass 
in all that region. 

Lie felt that General Pope had been beguiled by Stonewall's 
daring feint oil the Capital, and he believed that Lee's main 
army was approaching by way of Thoroughfare. And so in- 
stead of rushing everything northward to save Washington he 
rushed six brigades with heavy artillery southward to block 
Longstreet. The consequence was a race for the mountain 
passes and a struggle for their possession ! 

The rest is history ! 

[ i8 ] 



Before the Federals had made good their clutch on Thor- 
oughfare the Confederates flanked the pass and won it ! 

Thus Jackson was rescued, Lee's army was reunited, the 
North and the South in all their plenitude of strength were 
confronting each other, and the result was Second Manas- 
sas — that most dramatic conflict of the age — ^boldest in strategy, 
richest in episode, most varied in its changing fortunes, and 
altogether the best balanced and most picturesque battle ever 
lost and won on American soil. 



I '^ J 



A Letter From Scout Cussons 

In a letter to the publishers Scout Cussons says: " I was rid- 
iuL^ with General Ilood at the head of Longstreet's column when 
the false guide attempted to mislead us toward Aldie; antl that 
afternoon 1 made notes of the incident, describing the guide's man- 
ner and recording his language as nearly as memory would serve. 

"In my narrative I have accepted the common theory that 
General Pope's frantic orders on the night rif the 2Sth resulted en- 
tirely from A. P. Hill's bnld feint on Washington; but my personal 
ojiinion is that the imperative orders and desperate efforts of that 
fatal night were chieHj- due to Pope's belief that his spy's mission 
had been successful, — that Jack Sterry had really diverted Long- 
street's command north of Bull Run mountain. I'his assumption 
would explain nuicli which is otherwise inexplicable, for th.e swift 
dash toward Washington was as swiftly withdrawn, and it alone 
could have had but a temporary effect. 

"Stonewall Jackson's purpose was simply In relieve the Fed- 
eral pressure at Thoroughfare until Longstrect could force a pass- 
age. The temporary diversion ^\as successful, notwithstanding 
McDowell's soldierly disobedience, and in a few hours General 
Pope knew that there were no Confederates in force north of Cen- 
terville. 

"Of course, we must alhwv that General Pope was beset by 
unusual dilViculties. We must not forget that he was without food 
or forage; that his reserve supplies had been captured; his com- 
munications cut; his railroads torn up; his l)ridges burned; his 
troops worn out; his ammunition well-nigh exhausted, and that 
at best it is by no means an easy task to march a famished army 
through a ravaged country on a misty, moonless night. 

" TJnder such conditions misfortune must be looked for. 

" And so, as we recall the horrors of that tragic night we again 

[ 21 ] 



behold that most pathetic of war's sorrowful pictures — the spec- 
tacle of unavailing sacrifice — of eturdy valor, fate-defying, yet 
fruitlessly flung away! 

" There at Groveton is King's heroic division. While on march 
>t has struck Jackson's battle line, and is maintaining singlehanded 
its bitter struggle far into the night — its unsuccored wounded 
abandoned at last on the stricken field. Nearby are Sigel's de- 
voted ten thousand, fuming to join the battle yet unaccountably re- 
strained. There, too, is the gallant Reynolds, impatiently awaiting 
orders to advance, yet receiving none, and finally picking his way 
through the black night toward his old camp at Manassas. 

" From the dim woods heart-rending groans are heard — the 
groans of wounded soldiers, crawling in search of ditch or pool, 
and longing only to quench their thirst and die. There are frantic 
cries, too, from despairing horsemen — bewildered staff officers 
charged with battle orders for corps commanders, but hopelessly 
lost — unable to find or follow a road — dazed by the glare of camp 
fires — blundering into fences — entangled amid tent ropes — plunging 
through groups of sleeping men, but utterly unable to get guid- 
ance or direction from any living creature. 

" Clouds of stragglers are colliding in their mad quest for 
water, while pioneers with flickering torches only add to the gloom. 
A distinguished major-general is lost in the woods; unhappy Fitz. 
Porter is blindly groping and praying for the dawn; loyal McDow- 
ell is disobedient to his chief; veteran Ricketts is marching into 
space as the sun goes down; impregnable Thoroughfare is rehn- 
quished without a real battle, and that vital mountain pass thus 
opened for the momentous re-union of Jackson and Longstreet! 

" Yet all this tumultuous chaos may resolve itself into something 
like attempted strategy if we assume that General Pope was striv- 
ing to effect dispositions which would enable him to crush Long- 
street while marching under the false guidance of Spy Sterry. 

" But here the question naturally arises, ' Where was the Fed- 
eral cavalry?' 

"Well! That was General Pope's crowning misfortune. His 
cavalry was broken down — unfit for service — incapable of either 
masking his own movements or penetrating those of his adversary. 

[ 22 ] 



'' And so, back yonder at White Plains, when Mood ordered a 
reconnaisance nortliward toward Aldie. Pope's people, I imagine, 
mistook the rcconnoitering party for the advance of Longstreet's 
main army. 

" Hence the P)ull Run passes were abandoned, and there was 
a wild but fruitless attempt northward, an attempt which actually 
relieved Jackson and half opened the gate to Longstreet! And 
that — I have little doubt — was the real mischance which spoiled 
the plans and closed the career of Major-General Pope. 

" It will thus be seen that at a critical moment that daring youth 
Jack Sterry, carried in his single hand the fortunes of that great 
campaign." 



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m S3 1908 



// 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 702 245 A 



